KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The pressure was on Devonte’ Graham.
The stakes were high for the Kansas basketball guard near the end of the team’s practice Wednesday afternoon at Sprint Center, one day before the No. 1-seeded Jayhawks will take the court for a quarterfinal game in the Big 12 Tournament.
Thirteen teammates before him had tried and failed, and KU had two more shots at this. Graham lined up a few feet behind the half-court line and prepared himself.
“All right,” KU coach Bill Self shouted. “Gotta have a make!”
Graham dribbled one time, took two steps forward and launched a half-court heave with all the authority his 6-foot-2, 172-pound frame would allow.